Supporting-post for electric conductors



(No Model.)

' W. A. STEEN.

SUPPORTING POST POR ELECTRIC GONDUTORS.

Patented Apr; 7', 1891..

YUNITED STATES ATnNT OFFICE,

IILLIAM A. STERN, OF ALLEGHENY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO I. II. SIL-VERMAN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SUPPORTING-POST FOR ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,977, dated April 7,1891.

Application filed May 31, 1889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM A. STERN, a resident of Allegheny city, inthe county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Supporting-Posts for Electrical Conductors;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

My invention relates to the supportingposts for electrical conductors,its object being to provide means for preventing danger to the person incase of the contact of wires carrying dangerous currents with suchsupporting-poles. In the densely-crowded streets of cities where at thepresent time there are a large number of poles and posts used for thesupport of carrying wires, such as for telegraph, electric light,electric railway, and like purposes, and inthe rapid and extensiveintroduction of electric street-railways, it is found advisable for thepurpose of neatness and ornamentation to use metallic posts for carryingthese wires, and especially for supporting the wires of electricrailways, as such metallic posts are much neater than the wooden polesand do not occupy so much space. As, however, there are in most citieslarge numbers of wires carrying high tension or pressure currents of adangerous or fatal kind, which might in case of accident come in contactwith said poles, and the current carried by such wires inpassing to theground through the pole might cause fatal accident to any personhappening to come in Contact with,l such pole, it is necessary tofurnish means to guard against the entrance of such dangerous currentsinto the poles, or, if such currents should enter the poles, prevent thepossibility of its reaching such a point as to make it possible for aperson upon the street to come in contact with the charged portion ofthe pole. By my invention I provide a pole meeting these requirements.

It consists, essentially, in a metallic pole or post for supportingelectrical conductors, having a sleeve or covering of insulatingmaterial covering part or all of the body of the post and so acting toprevent surface contact therewith, such as to prevent the passage ofcurrents from neighboring conductors into Serial No. 312,735. (Nomodel.)

the post or to prevent the passageof electricity from the post, ifcharged, into a person Figure 1 is a side view of the supportingpostembodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of thesame, and Fig. 3 is a detail View of the insulating-joint.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each. 1

The supporting post or pole a is preferably made of sections of tubing,as the necessary strength can be obtained in this Way and the post ismuch lighter. Any suitable number of sections b c dmay be employed inthe posts, according to the desired height thereof, the post shownhaving three of these sections and having at theupper end of the topsection d the insulato1 e, the insulator shown being that generallyemployed for electrical railways where the wire over the track issupported by wires stretched between two such supporting-poles.Surrounding the upper section d is the sleeve or covering f, ofinsulating material, this covering being formed of proper insulatingmaterial, such as gelatinized fiber, hard or soft rubber, non-absorbentwoods, or painted cloth or canvas, the most desirable form consisting ofasleeve of proper diameter slipped over the upper section of the postand fitting around the same, as shown in the drawings. The covering may,however, be made by wrapping sheetssuch as of rubber-spirally around thepart to be protected, or I may employ any other way of covering thesame, so as to prevent passage of current either into the post or fromthe post, if charged, by contact therewith. For all practical purposesit is only necessary to cover the upper section of the lpost with thisinsulating-sleeve, as the main point of danger is in said uppersection,where, in case of the swinging or breaking of neighboringelectrical conductors carrying high tension or pressure currents,thesaid wires may come in contact with said upper section of thesupporting-post or into such close prox- IOO imity therewith as topermit the passage of current from the wire to the post, this insulatingsleeve or covering in such case preventing passage of current into thepost and so preventing accident from such cause. The entire post may,however, be protected with this insulated sleeve or covering, or it maybe employed on the lower section of the post, so as 4to prevent passageof current from the post, if charged, into any person coming in contactwith the post.

In case of the passage of the current into the upper part of the post,in order to prevent danger from contact with the lower part thereof, Ialso prefer to employ the insulated joint g, such as shown, between thetwo upper sections c d in the drawings. This joint g may be of anydesired construction, that shown being a simple form of insulated joint,in which the section c has a iiange h at its upper end. The section dhas a flanged at its lower end, and a thick sheet of rubber or otherinsulating material 7c is placed between the flanges, the flanges beingunited by screwbolts l, which pass through bushings m, formed ofinsulated material, and so prevent the passage of current from the uppersection d into the lower section c. Such insulated joint, however, formsno part of the present invention. 4 By covering the body of the post asabove described I am thus enabled to protect the person from dangereither by preventing the high-tension currents from any neighboringconductors from passing into the upper part of the post and so guardingagainst the mass of accidents from this source, or where the sleeve orcovering is applied to the lower part of the post to prevent injury tothe person in case of contact with a post charged with such dangerouscurrent, my invention being simple and inexpensive for such purposes. l

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is*- A metallic post for supporting electrical conductors, having asleeve or covering of insulating material covering part or all of thebody thereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said VILLIAM A. STERN, have hereunto set myhand.

WILLIAM A. STERN. Witnesses:

JAMES I. KAY, J. N. COOKE.

